Tool for spreading bridle-wire hooks.



D. SCHEIDEGGER.

" TOOL FOR SPREAOING BRIDLE W |RE HOOKS. -APPLICA/TION FILED FEB. 14. um.

.1 ,237 ,391 Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

2 SHEETSQ-SHEET l.

DHWD scHElDEqqER Quorum;

D. SCHEIDEGGER.

TOOL FOR SPREADING BRIDLE WIRE HOOKS.

APPLICATION FILED 8.14.1917.

1,237,391 Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

awwevitoz Damp gCHBDEqqER ED STATES PATENT OFFIGE.1

DAVID sonnrnneenn, or Fon'r MORGAN, COLORADO.

. To all whom it may concern l following is a specification, reference being Beit known that DAVID soi-nnoneenn a citizen. of the United States,-res1d1ng at llort Morgan, in the countyof Morgan and, State of Colorado, has nvented certain new and useful Improvements in Tools for Spreading BridIe- Wire Hooks of which the had to the accompanying d1awings. I y i This inventlon relates to toolsfor repairing'or adjustingpartsof piano actions, and

particularly to a tool designed to spread or] open the hook-like coil whereby ajjbridle wire is connected to the bridlestrap' on a piano action. I

Inpractically all upright piano actions, thebridlewire is formed at its upper end as illustrated in Figure 5 by bending the wire in the form of a coil or hook, with the bill of theihook bent so as to extend upward.

The bridle tape or strapis disposed with its outerendthrough the loop or coiland with the upwardly extending bill passed through a perforation in the extremity of the tape. It is very often necessary to putin new bridle; straps; the old straps being liable to become worn or broken or being eatenawav by mice or moth."" The bills of the loops or hooksare often initially'iso. tightly closed against the hook or loopthat they must be opened up considerably or spread apart,

that is the bills spread from the loop or body of the hook in order that the leather rnent shown in Fig 1 r terminal of the bridle strap canbe removed will often pinch together the bill; and body of the hook or loop so as'to prevent the bridlestrapfrom rattling against the loop or hook whichoften occurs when the bridle strap" or the leather terminal end thereof:

a showing the manner of use;

becomes hard through age; When new knifeibr' like tool, betweenthebill .on"the loop oribody and then turning the instrument so as to spread the bill from the loop andthis isnot onlyquite a task, but itis 1 ing a portion of a TOOL Fonj SPREADING sarnnawrnn HOOKS. i I v I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A110, 21, 1917, A Application filed sea-my 14, 1917 Serial No. 148,28. i

very liable totwist or bend the bridle 'WlI'GS, which have afterward to be straightened.

It is thegeneral object of my invention to provide a tool, there fore, which will expedi'tiously open these hooks of the bridle wires so that the bridle straps may be read ily removed therefrom and which will not two relatively shiftable shanks, a handle rigidly connected to one of the shanks, and an operating handle pivotally connected to the rigid handle and operating to shift the movable shank relative to the fixed shank it with sufficient power to spread or bend apart the two portions of the bridle hook.

A further object of the invention is to provide ajdevice of this character which is very simple in construction, may be cheaply made, and is thoroughly eiiicient "In action.

The inventionis illustrated in the accoman in drawin s in which:

Fig. 1 is a side'elevation of my improved innolemcnt, the shank 11 being partly in section;

Fig.2 is a top plan Fig. 3 is an underside view thereof;

of a" bridle wire and tape;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view on a large scale of the bridle wire and tape view of the iniple- Fig! 4. is a section on the line 4-4 of Fi n his a fra 'mentar aers aective view o a v and the end of my improved implement Figs; 7 and 8 are fragmentary underside planviews of theforward end. of the implement and a portion of the bridle wire showing the manner in which the loop or hook ofthe bridle wire is expanded;

Fig; 9 is an enlarged elevation of the bridle wire and hook showing an end view of the shank 15 and sectional View of the (end of the shank 11;

' 10 is a fragmentary elevation showpiano action with the implement applied.

gular .alining passages in which a second shank is disposed for longltudmal sllding Referring to these drawings it will be movement'. The shank 10]is also formed with, a pair of ears '16 spaeed-from each other to receive between them the inner angularly bent end or nose'17 of a movable handle 18which is pivoted to the ears 16, as at'19. a

The shank 15 at its forward'end has a flat face confronting the flat face of the extension 1-2 and closely adjacent thereto. The extremity ofltheshank' 115 is reduced 7 in" thickness, butits {width is greater than the width .of the extension .12 at its narrowest part. The terminal end of extension 20 of the shank 15 is formed with a longitudinally extending slit 21 which is in alinement with the perforation 13 in the portion 12. :Disposed between the lugs 14 of the shank 11 is a coiled compression spring 22,

whichbears at its forward end against the of the shank 15the screw threaded stop or adjustingnu-t 26, thisnut being held in its and bearing at one end against 1311811111326-5 and-'atthe-other endbearing against the forward faces of the cars 16: Preferably the spring is disposed.

forward lug 14 and atQits rear end against a transverse pm 28. Thus] the coiled compression spring: urges the :shank 15- rear-- ward. The rear portionk'of the shank 15 is... -screW-tlireaded asat2l and therear extremity of the shank is flattened as at'25; and passes between the ears 16 andv bears;

operatively against the faceof the angular nose 17 of the handle 18. .Thus it will'be.

ohviousnthat wheirthe handle 18 is moved 15" toward the handle shank 10 the shank15 will be movable longitudinally outward against the facev offlthe spring 22 and that when pressure is released on the handlelS,

. the spring 22 will shift the shank 15 rear- Ward relative to the shank 11. For the purpose of limiting the outward movement of the shank 15 relative to the shank 11, I; mount upon the screw-threaded"portions2st adjustedpositions by means ofa coiled com-f} pression spring 27 disposed around the is as follows and is illustrated in Figs. 5 to 7. The pointed end or bill a of the bridle wire A is passed throughthe perforation 13. The handle 18 is now drawn toward the handlelO. byJicontracting the hand and this forces the shank 15' forward. The slot 21 receives the lower portion of the bill a and the ends 28 of the extension 20 bear against the looped portion 6 of the bridle wire. As a consequence of the relative movement of the part 12 and the part 20, the bill a will be drawn in one direction and the loop I) will be forced in the other direction, thus spreading th jbill from the loop to the position shownin lfig. 7 which permits theready disengagem'entof the bridle strap or tape from the bridle wire hook or loop 'without in a-nywaybending the bridle wire.

It will be seen that the respective move-: ments of the loop I) and ,billa are entirely relative, or in other words, that the bill will be drawn outward while the body of the wireis pushed inward or held from movementso that the bridle wire will not be bent nor will the loop 5 be infany way deformed inasmuch as the two end faces 28 will bear.- against the-oppositely disposed portions of the loopv 7;. After a new 'bridlezstrap has been inserted on the" hook or loop of'the bridle wire, it is an easy matter to again close this loop, if desired, by the use of ordinary pincers.

It will,- of course, be seen that by the use 1 of a tool of this character, it is an easy mat-. ter toopen or spread the loops or hooks of;

bridlefwires so as tofremove the bridle straps therefrom or toyr eapply" new. bridle straps and it will beobvious that a great saving of time is effected in thiswork by the use of this tool; thus for instance, where a person has an entire set of straps to put f in a pian0,88 straps for instanceyin an ordinary piano, and the hooks are all pinched'tight', the use of this implement will save. at least an hourof time besides leaving the wires unbent and undamaged. justing the nut 26 it is possible to limit the relative movements of the shanks 11 and 15 and thus limit the degree of spreading of thecbills of the hooks uponthe bodies of the hooks. Thus the operator wilhnothave to Judge" at'each operat on ust how mujeh to 'move the handle 18 but nay set the in? strument for his averaged 'work. On the other hand, itlis of course'obvious that the nutqmay be very quickly run backto per screw threaded rear portion of the 'shank15 nut 26 is formed with a central annular stud over j which the. forward end The manner in which this tool is used of the coil mita maximum opening of the h'ook,if de-v sired I have devised this tool; with particular reference to opening or -fspreading f Y the hooks of bridle wlres, yet I do not wish' to be lnmted tothisuse; as the device might -b6 used for 'other purposes. Furthermore I do not wlsh to be limited to the exact mounted upon one shank and operatively engaging the other shank whereby to shift the last named shank upon a movement of the handle, and means for adjustably limiting the movement of the slitted shank.

8. In a tool of the character described, a shank having a perforation at one end designed to receive the bill of a bridle hook and having a handle at its other end, a second shank slidably mounted on the first named shank for longitudinal movement therealong and formed at one end with a longitudinally extending open ended slit registering with the perforation inthe first named shank and designed to accommodate the bill of the hook, but permit the end of Copies of this patent may be obtained for the slitted shank to move beyond the bill and engage the loop of the hook, a handle pivotally connected to the first named handle and operatively engaging the slitted shank to shift it longitudinally relative to the first named shank, a spring urging the second-named shank to a retracted position, and a stop having threaded engagement with a slitted shank and adjustably limiting its forward movement.

In testimony whereof I hereunto 'afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

, DAVID SCHEIDEGGER. Witnesses:

L. G. JOHNSON,

C. E. RoBIsoN.

five cents each, byeddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G." 

